When I copy large file (for example over 4GB) from external WD MyBook USB 3.0 HDD to internal SATA2 HDD all of Windows just freezes. Copying files of any size on internal HDD is fine.
Today I copied an 8GB file and after it started copying I refreshed a simple page in Firefox. It loaded only after the file was copied. So I waited about a minute to just see the page refresh. Unbelievable.
I know that all programs are swapped to HDD, so when copying all pipelines are working 100% and there is no room for accessing those program's files on HDD, but can be this behavior limited?
HP 8540w (full spec: Intel Core i5 520M, RAM 4GB DDR3, Quadro FX 880M 1GB, 320GB 7.2k, (PN WD927EA#ARL)), Windows 7 Prof 64bit, all updates. Antivir, firewall, drivers up to date. No spyware or anything like that.
UPDATE: Small clarification on "freeze". Windows are still alive, but refresh/google search is very slow (maybe because i have 15tabs open in FF - but nothing computationally intensive(no Flash/SL). Basically, if i pause/stop copying everything is fine.
UPDATE2: After looking on HDD activity in ResourceMonitor it seems that Firefox is querying it's internal database, so it may be a source. Also, file copy is listed as first, when FF is listed as second app in terms of HDD activity. But refreshing same page in IE9 is also slow, so...
UPDATE3: It is not FF related, happens basically with everything bigger than Notepad. IE9, Steam etc. When copying is finished all apps just show up at once. Maybe i am looking at this from wrong angle and hardware is really so busy it can't do anything more. Maybe someone knowing OS internals/drivers will provide an answer. Just i do not expect this behavior from PC in year 2011.